Conventional multiple well tissue culture plates as taught by Liner (U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,326) and Lyman (U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,288) are a common tool in most tissue culture experiments requiring small numbers of cells in relatively small volumes under multiple experimental conditions. The Terisaki tissue culture plate (U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,315) is used mainly in experiments aimed at cloning cells. Among the advantages of multiple well tissue culture plates are their low cost, disposable nature, and multiplicity of cell culture compartments. Multiple well tissue culture plates make possible multiple separate cultures all within a single culture device, thus making them attractive in screening assays. Multiple well tissue culture plates are available in standard configurations (e.g., 6, 12, 24, 48 or 96 wells per plate) which allow users to select a plate which has the desired well volume most suitable for a specific application. Plates with many wells, such as 48 or 96 well plates, are a good tool for use in experiments with many variables or experiments with a small number of cells. Plates with fewer numbers of wells that are larger in size are typically used in lieu of numerous separate cell culture flasks. It is the ability to handle a complete cell culture experiment with multiple parameters in an individual plate that makes these devices a common tool in most tissue culture experiments.
Previous studies have used a "scratch" wound closure assay to assess the potential effects of an agent on in vitro cell migration. However, presently available techniques result in non-reproducible model wounds which create difficulties in assessing the reproducibility of cellular migration and the dynamic process of wound repair.